Violette and Vidock Vendredi

Violette: Pretty neighs, Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the summer. #1 came to see us yesterday. It was dry when she left Poupounette Central but, by the time she got to us, the heavens had opened. It was absolutely pelting down! But, we horses were out and about rather than hiding in our shelters! Why? Well, when it's raining that hard, there are no flies and believe me, no flies definitely wins out over a little wet. Here is the scene she saw:

I am second from right, in case you were wondering.

Of course, I came over to collect my carrots and apples:

 

And here is a profile shot for you:

 

By the way, my littlest Sis, Heloise, is doing really well. My Mama, Hotesse, is looking after her so well! And my little sis, Doucette, is expecting! I am going to be an aunt next spring! The daddy is the same as Heloise's daddy!

 

 

Vidock: Study Neighs, EveryFriend! You know what? That gallivanting #1 is heading out again today. But she says she is going away only for the weekend, to the British Percheron Breed Show  in England, and will be back by noon on Monday, In the meantime, I got my treats!

 

# is a little concerned about me as Mr. JP told her I was getting a little out of breath again. It may just be the heat we've had but, to be sure, I will return to the big equine hospital in mid-July for a full check-up. Would you mind crossing some hooves and paws for me?

Our 9th Blogoversary!

Tommy: Nine years ago, my buddy Sen-Chan and I decided, with #1's approval, to start a blog. Sen-Chan's nickname was "Poupounet" and so we though that "Poupounette" would be a good name for our new endeavour. Neither of us was even a year old at the time, and so it was a journey of discovery for us. You can find our very first blog post here. And here is a photo of the two of us when we were young!

I cannot believe that nine whole years have passed since then. Sweet Sen-Chan went to the Bridge in January 2010, but I have continued to blog with the help of every one of my siblings as they came along. We love to blog and share our adventures, and really enjoy the friends we have made over the years. We are pretty regular bloggers, and have managed to blog every single day for the last five years! We have totalled close to 600,000 page views over the years and almost 58,000 comments.

I was pondering with #1 how best to do this post and we decided that we would link back to the posts celebrating the arrival of each of us. Of course, in my case, it is the first post, and the same holds true for Sen-Chan. The next one to arrive at Poupounette Central and who therefore knew both me and Sen-Chan was Tama-Chan. Here is the post in which Sen-Chan describes her arrival. Here she is with #1 a few days after her arrival:

 

The next one to join the family was Sei-Chan. Her arrival was somehow protracted as she first moved here in the spring of 2009 when she was four weeks old, along with her Mama, Viña Del Mar, and they stayed in the back room for almost two months. The post of her official move to the main part of the house is here, and here is a photo of her and Tama-Chan in the early days:

 

Sei-Chan was followed by sweet Yuu-Chan whose time with us was all too short (he was felled by FeLV when only 15 months old). He had also spent time here as a tiny kitten with his siblings. The first post he penned after moving in in early October 2009 is here. Yuu-Chan was sweetness made cat and he and Sei-Chan were particularly close:

 

Of all the members of the Poupounette Gang, only one is truly home grown and that is Da Beebs, He was born at the vet's by Caesarian on December 4th, 2009, and came home that same day! The post depicting the arrival of "The Fabulous Four" is here. And, needless to say, the squee factor went through the roof:

After Yuu-Chan left us in September 2010, #1 decided she needed something really large to hug and so The Big V came into our lives in October 2010. His first post, and the first Wednesday Whinnies, is here. He was quite little back then, you know... and much darker than he is now!

Eventually, though, # decided that Da Beebs really needed a playmate, as the girls didn't enjoy his boisterous nature very much, and so Genji, aka Da-Genj or Gen-Chan, came long in July 2011. His arrival post is here. It took him a little time to grow into his ears:

 

The last addition to our current family came in  March 2012. Violette had been living in the field next to the house all winter, and #1 wanted to get her out of there and find her a good home. So, she decided to buy her and have her trained so she could sell her. Five years later, you know how that project turned out... A major foster fail. You can find her first post here. And here is a photo of Violette the day after she joined the Gang:

 

Ever since the Gang has been complete, we have blogged every single day, despite #1's propensity for going away and travelling the world (guess what? She is leaving again tomorrow, but will only be good over the weekend). We are already looking forward to our 10th anniversary next year and to many more years of blogging.

If you have managed to read all the way down to here, we also wanted to say that we will be drawing a name out of the comments on this post to send a small gift celebrating our blogoversary!

Remembering The Traveller - Our Trav

#1 here. Today marks a whole year since we said goodbye to our sweet boy Trav (The Traveller). He was not with us for long, and he did not mingle with the other Gang members, with the exception of Tommy, but he was very much part of our world for 15 months, and we miss him more than we can say.

He showed up one day at the beginning of March 2015, and started to nap on the neighbour's old tractor in the hangar. This is the first photo I took of him:

 

He looked pretty rough, dirty and unkempt, and very hungry. I started by putting out some dry food for him near where he slept.

 

He was completely feral and absolutely did not trust people. He had clearly never been in a home or known any kindness. Strangely, he looked very similar to Manoush, a long-haired kitten who had turned up at the neighbours' back in 2007 and who had died recently from a saddle thrombus. I suspect the two were brothers and one found a home and the other not.

TRAV

 MANOUSH

As  the weeks and months passed, I got into a routine of feeding Trav regularly, and he became part of our little community. He quickly understood that Tommy meant him no harm, and he became good friends with Grisette, one of the neighbour cats.

 

He was an uncut male but, after consulting with my vet, I decided to let him be on that score. He was too feral to catch without causing major trauma. The only medication he had was good food and wormers.

He grew fat, and began to love lounging in the sun, and exploring the fields on a sunny day.

 

 

He also discovered the back of my garage and the boxes filled with hay  that provided comfortable bedding.

 

 

As winter approached, I made him a comfortable and insulated shelter at the back of the garage although he always preferred his hay boxes! He was often asleep in one when I would come to give him breakfast.  I put the dishes on top of his shelter:

 

 I was never able to pet him, but I could get closer and closer to him without him running away . Ultimately, the only thing that mattered was that he was safe and had a full tummy.

 

He suddenly disappeared towards the end of June last year. I wasn't worried at first as he would go walkabout occasionally but after a week, I was really concerned. And then one day, I found him at the back of my garage, in his shelter. He was in terrible shape, badly wounded and covered in maggots. He had probably been run over. I was incredibly touched that he somehow managed to come back to the only home he had ever known. I had no choice but to take him to the vet and help him over the Bridge. I still look for him every day when I go out with Tommy. I had him cremated and his ashes are partly home and partly scattered over the field he loved.

THE TRAVELLER - FOREVER LOVED

Thank you for sharing a little time with us

In order to celebrate The Traveler, we are running a little commenthaton, and will make a donation to Winnie's Wish in his name.

Tama-Chan Tuesday

Tama-Chan: Well, it got cool, and then it got somewhat hot again, and last night, it started raining which we badly need. It's supposed to continue raining all week, and the temps will go down a lot! What is there to do at such times but look cute?

 

We have special posts both tomorrow and Thursday and hope you will join us for both. 

Manly Monday

Vidock: OK, Play the music. You know the one... The one from that old TV series... ZORRO!

 

#1 got me this fly mask. The ears are a bit longer than they need to be and it could be a little longer in the nose, but it's doing a pretty good job. 

 

 Da Genj: It's fun to sit at the window with your bro and enjoy the breeze!

 

Then again, it's also nice to hang out in a shady corner of the cat run!

 

Tommy: When I go out to restaurants, this often happens:

 

That's Mr. J, one of the two guys who own the restaurant. He almost always brings me some treats!

 

 It finally cooled off so I went for a walk in the woods with #1!

 

Da Beebs: How about a handsome profile?

 

Or an equally handsome sleepy face?

 

Fernant: Woof! It's me, Fernant. I was at Camp Tommy over the weekend. I really like it there!

 

Basha here. I just wanted to say hello to the beautiful Loustiquette.

 

We wish you all a good week!

 

Snuggles on Sunday

Tama-Chan: We shared with you how incredibly hot it was here for most of the week and I have to say that it did affect our snuggling a little bit. Nobody had any energy. Still, we soldiered on, and this is what we have for you:

First of all, here I am with my Tommy:

 

And a slightly blurry Sei-Chan with Tommy:

 

Sei-Chan decided she needed some direct cuddles with #1 so she went and sat on her in bed!

 

Of course, this is something that Da Genj does all the time anyway, but this week, he decided to try something different:

 

And you may remember that Sei-Chan likes to hold paws with #1:

 

Fernant is with us for the weekend and he loves to snuggle! 

 

Da Beebs was too busy airing out his paws to snuggle...

 

And Miss Violette was right at the back of her shelter, hiding from the horseflies, but The Big V was willing!

 

 Happy Snuggling, Everyone!

Savage SEIturday!

Sei-Chan: HeeHeehee... Did that title worry you? I didn't really mean it but you know how I have a bit of a reputation as being a scaredy cat? Well, yes... I am cautious and don't hang around too long if there is trouble brewing. But, believe me, I do know how to stand up for myself, and I have proof! #1 managed to catch this shot of me as I was being bothered by a certain unnamed blue boy:

 

Enough said, right? Except that I did also want to draw your attention to the Beebsy half-brother of mine. Talk about looking all innocent!!!

In other news, I am glad to announce that the heatwave has broken somewhat. It is still warm but nothing as warm as it was. We can all breathe!

Here is a nice sunpuddly shot of me:

 

And another:

 

With my new toy from Japan:

 

Ever since it got hot, I have taken to hanging out in this location. It is a little bit cool:

 

 Have a great SEIturday, everyone!